Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mark Wickens. I collect olive oil labels and fruit wrappers, the thin, usually tissue-like papers used to wrap individual oranges, lemons, apples, tomatoes and the like. My fruit wrapper collection contains about
12,000 or so different better-quality designs from 70 countries, colonies and territories, such as prewar Palestine and French Morocco. My oldest wrappers date from
1895. I have exhibited this collection several times in Canada and Europe, a slide presentation was given on it at Oxford University in late 1998, and it has received radio, television and press coverage on both sides of the Atlantic.
My olive oil collection is much smaller, containing about 1,300 different better-quality pictorial designs, the oldest dating from around 1860, according to two independent sources. About 99% of my labels are unused.
All of my wrappers and labels are stored in archival-quality materials and neatly arranged to make for a professional presentation.
I would like to hear from you if you share one of my interests or would like to swap, sell or buy.
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